


The Next Stage Of Our Lives

by Awesome_Sauce432



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Academy Era, First Meeting, Misunderstandings, The Makings of FitzSimmons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-17
Updated: 2016-06-17
Packaged: 2018-07-15 15:09:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7227427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Awesome_Sauce432/pseuds/Awesome_Sauce432
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Jemma, soon to be Cadet Simmons, took a deep breath, standing on the precipice of the next stage of her life. This was it. S.H.I.E.L.D Academy. The best resources, the best instructors, the best that she could be offered. This was an opportunity of a lifetime, her mother said. A real chance to do good in the world. </p>
<p>But she was so nervous"</p>
<p>One-shot, Jemma starts at the Academy. For the most part, things turn out how she expects, except when it comes to a certain curly-haired Scot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Next Stage Of Our Lives

Jemma, soon to be Cadet Simmons, took a deep breath, standing on the precipice of the next stage of her life. This was it. S.H.I.E.L.D Academy. The best resources, the best instructors, the best that she could be offered. This was an opportunity of a lifetime, her mother said. A real chance to do good in the world. 

But she was so nervous. Bound to be the youngest there, by a long shot. After all, having at least one PhD was required for even applying to the Academy, at least for the SciTech division. Most people did not have their first PhD by fourteen. 

"Now, call me tonight when you can. I know you'll do wonderfully." Her mother said, tears shining in her eyes. Jemma's mother got teary-eyed quite easily, and this was a big event. Jemma pulled out a small packet of tissues, smiling and nodding at her parents, even if on the inside she was a sheer bundle of nerves.

"I'm so proud of you Jem." Her father said, pulling her in for a big hug. 

"I know Dad. I love you both." Jemma blinked quickly, trying to prevent tears of her own from falling. It wasn't the first time she'd be boarding at a university or academy, but this would be the first time that she would be on another continent. The day after tomorrow her parents would be flying back to Sheffield, while she stayed in America. Just another thing on her list of things to be worried about. 

"Take care dear. Don't forget to call us!" Her mother said again.

"I won't." Jemma looked over her shoulder, seeing a small group of other new cadets gathering on a field outside the main building.

"We love you Jem. Don't forget to do your homework." Her father said, chuckling. Jemma smiled, knowing that homework was one thing she didn't have to worry about. She couldn't remember ever not turning in a piece of homework, no matter how trivial.

Final hugs and goodbyes were given, before suddenly her parents were driving off in the cab, leaving Jemma alone on the curb. No turning back now, she thought.

She tried to look confident as she walked towards the group of other new cadets. After all, they all had to be feeling the same as her, right? But her confidence shattered the second one of them noticed her, before leaning over to whisper to the person next to him. 

"It's that other one."  
"She's so tiny, can't believe they let her in."  
"Heard she got two PhD's."  
"At her age? No way."  
"Well, she's here."

Jemma found herself standing just at the edge of the cluster, painfully aware of the whispers but pretending she couldn't hear them. She had a lot of practise at that. 

"Name please?" Suddenly a tall, imposing woman appeared, holding a tablet and staring down at her over the rim of her glasses.

"O-um, Jemma Simmons." She said, cursing herself for stammering. The whispering from the others flared up again, and she could swear that she could hear snickering as well.

"Very well, Cadet Simmons." The woman handed her an ID badge, with her name and basic details on it. 

Jemma stared at the badge with awe. This was real. It was finally happening. She was on her way to becoming a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent. That small bit of happiness was enough for her to try to ignore the fact that even as the group moved their way into the building, she was still always three steps back from everyone else.

She didn't talk to any of the other cadets, and they didn't seem to want to talk to her either. Nearly all of them were at least a head taller than her, and all of them in their mid-twenties at the youngest. 

Jemma was hit the same sense of oddness she had felt all throughout her life. Even when she was with people her age, she just didn't fit in. She was either years ahead of her peers mentally, or years behind them physically. Since preschool, she had been her own niche. She had gotten used to it, but it didn't make it hurt any less that she saw S.H.I.E.L.D would be no different. She would still be seen as the small child who outdid nearly everyone else. The stranger. The loner. The freak. Perhaps they respected her for her mind or her skills, but they didn't respect her for everything else. She had yet to meet someone who did.

Eventually the group of new cadets was taken into a large orientation room. The woman who had given Jemma her ID badge strode to the front and waited patiently while everyone shuffled into seats. Jemma, being at the back of the group and one of the last in the room, was forced to take one of the back seats. At least this allowed her to observe everyone else, rather than be the one observed. Though she could still feel people turning over their shoulders, thinking they were sneaky enough that she wouldn't notice.

"Welcome, new cadets. I am sure many of you have heard stories about the Academy, from older cadets or from agents themselves. Some of those stories are true. Others are not. I am not going to tell you which are which." The agent said, pacing around the front of the room. A few cadets chuckled nervously.

"But I will tell you this. This will not be an easy ride. I'm sure many of you were top of your class, light years ahead of your peers." Jemma could have sworn the agent looks directly at her when she said this.

"But here, all of your peers were top of their classes. You may have been the best, but so were they. We have high standards here, and we expect that you will meet them. This is first, and only warning." There were a few scattered mutterings through the room. The agent seemed satisfied that she had made her point, turning and standing directly in the middle of the room.

"Now, moving on..." The agent began to talk about procedures, and soon Jemma recognised it from the cadet handbook she had been given back when she was accepted to the Academy. Naturally, she had nearly memorised the entire thing. 

A few of the other cadets, based from their confused faces, had not done the same. Jemma glanced around the room at all the cadets, her back seat giving her a good vantage point.

Most of them were exactly as she'd expected. About ten years her senior. She couldn't tell what nationality they were just from looks, but she guessed most were American. 

Then her eyes fell on one smaller cadet, sitting on the opposite side of the room from her, but the same row. He was short, though probably still taller than her. Fair, curly hair, bright blue eyes. He looked... Young. It was a shock, after all the late twenties/early thirties she'd seen walking around the compound. He looked nearly her age.

The boy - because she didn't think it was appropriate to call such a short boy a man - was sitting straight in his chair, shoulders tensed and eyes locked onto the agent. He looked nervous, just like her. Jemma felt a small surge of comraderie. Maybe they could be friends. 

After the small lecture from the orientation agent, Jemma tried to seek out the boy. But with so many new cadets, and the huge rush to get their dorm assignments, it was near impossible. She didn't see him again until the next day, during her first class. 

That was where she learned his last name. Cadet Fitz. It was also where her hopes of a friendship burned into a crisp. Because Cadet Fitz was the most competitive know-it-all Jemma had ever met. And as a fellow competitive know-it-all, she couldn't let that stand.

She became convinced that Fitz was an absolutely arrogant prick, all caught up in himself and his own intellect. She became determined to beat him in every class they shared, working harder than she had previously thought possible. It seemed unlikely she would ever change her mind about him.

Until one night, the day before she was due to hand in her mid-semester project. Stressed from weeks upon weeks of projects and assignments, surviving only on caffeine and maybe two hours of sleep a night, if that, she had grown clumsy. A terribly placed cup of coffee and one clumsy Jemma resulted in a soaked computer keyboard. 

It took her a few moments to realise what she had done. It took only a few moments more for the keyboard to short out, the computer going haywire. Frantically, she pressed keys in a futile attempt to fix it.

"No no no no no no..." She mumbled to herself, when the screen finally went black. All her work... She had a backup saved on her USB drive but it wasn't completed, she would have to redo so much... Tears blinked in her eyes. She was doomed.

"You alright?" A Scottish accent pierced her self-loathing. She hadn't even realised anyone else was there.

"I-I spilt coffee-computer-" She stopped herself, the words coming out mangled from sleep deprivation and tears. She didn't even notice who it was that had asked the question, even though she knew only one Scottish cadet.

Fitz quietly scooted Jemma's chair over, allowing himself space. Jemma quickly gave up on trying to figure out what he was doing, convinced that it was pointless. Her work was ruined, she was going to get a failing grade, and nothing would be able to save her.

"There, I think that'll do it." Cadet Fitz said, and Jemma looked at the computer, not really thinking he'd have been able to do anything of value. 

But sitting there, just as it had been seconds before the accident, was her project. Untouched, untampered with. Perfect. She stared dumbly for a few seconds, the sight taking a few moments to reach her sleepy brain.

"You-you did it." She finally said, now seeing Cadet Fitz in a whole new light. She couldn't believe it.

"I couldn't just leave you." He said, cheeks starting to see a tinge of pink.

Impulsively, Jemma jumped up and embraced him, murmuring thanks over and over again. How could she ever repay him? And she'd been so quick to judge him. She cursed herself for being so prejudiced against him from the start. She had seriously midjudged Cadet Fitz. And she wanted to make it right.

"W-would you like to eat lunch together? After Professor Vaughn's class tomorrow. I'll pay, to thank you." She said. Now Fitz's cheeks were quite red.

"Oh-that's really not necessary, I... Okay. I thought you didn't like me." He said, scratching the back of his neck. Jemma nearly hugged him again, eager to make up for the way she had treated him.

"You saved my project. It's only fair I do something in return, Cadet Fitz. I will be buying you lunch tomorrow." She said, her tone stating that she would not be refused in this matter. Fitz smiled a little, though he still looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Well-alright then. I will see you after Professor Vaughn's class, Cadet Simmons." 

The beginning of the next stage of her life. That's what the Academy was supposed to be. She hadn't expected that it would also end up being the beginning of her first friendship. A real friendship.

**Author's Note:**

> I was hit with an idea and I ran with it. The things one can write at about 3am.


End file.
